Category Archives: Sabre 38

How The Sabre 38 MKII Became My Dream Boat And Why It Took Me Almost 30 Years To Buy One

Sabre 38

By Rich

Sabre 38 MK II hull number 12, built in 1987 as a 1988 model. We just bought her!

I finally bought a Sabre 38 MKII, the boat I decided was my ideal all the way back in 1994 while I was still in college. The story of how and why I chose the 38 MKII – and why haven’t owned one before now – begins over a decade before that, in the early 1980s, before the Sabre 38 MKII had even been designed.

When I was a small child, my parents bought our first family boat – a brand new Pearson 36 which was newly delivered in the early / mid 1970s. She was later traded in for a new Pearson 40 my parents had built in 1979. The 36 was a very nice sailing boat and very stylish, but not ruggedly constructed. The Pearson 40 was also marketed as a raceable cruiser, but my parents were sold on the promise of its expanded open-ocean capabilities. Unfortunately the blue water sales pitch exceeded the boat’s capabilities, as we discovered the hard way.

Our first family boat, a Pearson 36 named “Endeavor,” was bought new in the mid / early 1970s. For a family of 7, she was snug but in those years it was not unusual to stuff a lot of humans in a comparatively small boat. Today’s interior designs focus more on open living space than bunks and storage. I still love the look of this design.
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Sabre 38 Sea Trial In Maine … In November…In 38 Degrees!

Sabre 38

By Rich

Tuesday I took a one-day dive bomb trip to Maine (traveling Monday and Wednesday to and from) to sea trial the Sabre 38 we have a contract on. We are waiting on the surveyor’s list of recommendations but generally the trial went well. I don’t want to jinx anything by revealing exactly which boat she is so I will just tease with some photos showing some of my favorite design elements of the boat until everything is finalized. Based on the way she handled during the test sail in only 4 knots of wind, I will say this: a deep draft Sabre 38 MKII will be my next boat either way – let’s see if it all works out and this one is my next true love!